With this blog I have begun a journey to improve my photography skills. My goal is to take photos everyday, and post my favorite photo from that day on this blog. So far, I have learned a lot, and try to share my experiences. Many of you have made comments on the blog, via email, or when you see me in person. I really appreciate all of them. I learn a lot from each of you.
I hope that you will join me in my journey, and help me along the way. I have so much to learn.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Week 10, Day 64, July 3, 2009 "Crow with Clouds"

My Uncle has a pond in Summer Hill, NY. It's a very small area of the state. My father-in-law jokes that it is called Summer Hill because that's the only time of year that you can get there. Today was one of those summer days. It's an excellent place where a lot of my family gathers. My children enjoy going there, and my Aunt and Uncle enjoy having everybody around.

After dinner I took some photos. I was going to attempt to take some photos of fireworks. (Especially after seeing Greg Kirkpatrick's firework photos on Facebook. Great job Greg.)It began raining, so I didn't have the opportunity to take the firework photos. Maybe tomorrow night.

I did attempt to take some more photos of birds this evening. I attempted to get as close to a dead tree that had some crows roosting. Finally when I was to close, they began to fly. The crows flew over head, and I began to follow them with the camera. This is one of the photos. I like the contrast of the black crow on the blue sky, with the clouds. The darkness of the crow created a silhouette effect that I like.

Lessons Learned:

I think I'm beginning to learn a little behavior of the birds. If I was directly toward a tree with crows in it, they tend to fly away quickly. If I walk at an angle getting closer to the tree, I seem to get closer before they fly away.

Red Wing Black Birds seem to sometimes become agitated and fly directly overhead while chirping. I think they may be marking where I am, and alerting other birds to my location.

The more that I know about my subject, the better job I can do with my photography.